Trip for automatic phonographs



March 13, 1951 K. T. JOHNSON 2,545,360

TRIP FOR AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPHS Filed May 19, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l 27 22 Fly.

43 M r 29 j 40 so- 53 I 57 35 4a F n 17 47 45 INVENTOR. 2 Kurt T Johnson 7 BY 19 50 31 ATTORNEY March 13, 1951 K. T. JOHNSON 2,545,360

TRIP FOR AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPHS Filed May 19, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 13, 1951 :umrseo m r es :RAIENT LTRIP FGR AUTOMATIG'IPHGNOGRAPHS Kurt Johnson, fDhicago, l-Ill .,.-ass ignor to 1.1.}.

sSeebnrg Generation; zChicagq, .-lll., v.a eorporaiiionxofil-iinois .Aplllicaitionfliaylfl, 1944;5er'ial No: 536,283

trip of thepresent invention-- is adapted to-be 01 eratedattheiend of-thereproduction--of a recording "-by the continued inward movement of the player arm which"engagesthe-recerd. In the case that the "record "is provided with an eccen- --tric groove-inside the recording grooveythe trip is actuated fbythe reverse movement "of v the player arm. in the casethattherecordis provided with a :spiral 'groove :inside "the recording "grooves the trip *is actuated fwhen trthe player arm is "carried jiinto a predetermined inner --position. "In many tripsiin wide use the amount :of force'neces-sary to actuate thefbllp is considerable-andmay-cause considerable wear --in the recording -grooves part'icularly ,in-the ease of records i'having 'a "long recording groove. 'If the needle pressure 'is "reduced, theiload presentedhy the trip/can notbe provided by the engagement of "theineedle with the'trippinggroove oftherecord. 7

"One of the objects of the present invention is to provide atrip which can he operated with very '(little force, thu obviating any wear on'the recording groove and permitting the trip to .be afiirmatively operated even withminute needle Qpressure.

A further object of the invention is to provi'de ,a trip whichvcan be readily operated .frornaresmote pointso vthat the playing of an-undesired recording or. a, record with a defective groove may i'beeasilyterminated.

The invention wilireadiilyhe vunderstooidfrom 'thefollowing description of va preferredembodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. ,1 is an -elevationa-l view showing th improved-trip and associatedelements'ofthe phonop Fig. '2 is a :similar view showing the "trip in tripped condition;

Fig.3 is-a 'p'lan view of thetripand associated phonograph-elements;

'Fig. 4 is ;an-elevationa1 view of the-trip as viewed from theright-i-n l, 2 and 3, and

Fig. -'5 is a perspective view-showing the clutch elements controlled by the trip.

The present invention is illustrated as applied to the selective automaticphonographdescribed and claimed in PatentN-o. "$237,139, issued April '1, 194L120 Carl'G. Frehorg. It is'to be understood however that the improved, :tripis applica-ble=to otherautomatic phonographs.

.In:thisyphonograph a-motor inotshoum rd-rives a :shaft I 0 :from which the 'turntahle :is idriven. =W-henithe trip is actuated aeam Shaftf I tis'xiriven I through one --revolution to 'zefifect the various 5 movements-necessary for the changing :of 1a .rec-

0rd. The shaft -l lz'c'arries a--W011m2gear tz'wh-i-c'h vmeshes withiaworm r l,-3 carnied:;byz a :shai :lj in alignment with theeshaft Ehe shaftitli-and ::-the shaft zlfivcarry pins =i5. YDMfi-Hgfithe rplay'in ref a record they-pinsziri 51ers out ofsengagement the shaft: 4, 'zbeingiheld1to":the left as viewed in Fig.5 itwozprongs 16 which engage-a collar sat the :end aoftthe shaft miremctef-rom. the nins t5. clutch aheld disengaged by ;.a init ated latch if 1 5 :whi-cheengages wan arm 158 frigid-1y: carried by the shaft :19 which also carries the -prongs lsprinew Whichen'gages the outer endof the shaft 22! 4 biases the shaft M towards the -shaft: F0. :It'wi l'l readily be apparent from 'Figj5 that-when "20::the lat0h i is moved ii-inwardly th spring 2-9 :moves the 'o'lu'tch elements into engagement so that the motor drives the cam shaft ll through 1 one revolution. Near theend of the complete revolution a paWI Z-I nivotaliy-=mounted-cn--one of =cams2 2 on thecam shaftti engages -an'arm 2-3 =-rig-idly carried by the shaft $9. The pawl 21 v swings 1 inclockw ise direction against the-tension 0'fits spring-24, hringingan adjustable screw 25 carried by thepa-wl 21 into engagement with "the to arm '23. The-arm "3 isthus *movedin countercloclewise direction and the-pawl 2i snaps-past "the upper end of the arm 2'3 into its position in mg. l. The latch-1 E- dropsand' engages the-arm lihso that the clutch elements 95 are maintained im separated relation and the camshaft is no *longer driven.

In-the phonograph in'the'patent referred to, cams onthe-s'ha-ft "i 5 effect, during-its rotation, *thedownward movement-of the turntable to re- @0 turn the played-record to l its-slide, the "return 110T the slide-to its position in the stack; themovement of the-sl-ide carrying the nextrecord to be played out =in-to -a1ignrnent with the turntable, .the "re- -tur-n of th player arm-toinitialplaying position 5 and. i-the upward 'movement ;of the turntable "to bring the new "record into cooperative relation with the piayerarm;

The player arm 26- is pivotally mounted onthe upper end oi'avertic-al shaft ""27. The "'sha'ft '2"? carries a radially directed roller 28. A ;-cam 29' on the cam shaft '-H is "adapted 'to engage "the roller ZG-af-ter theturntabl-e. has moved the record out of engagement with the needle, soasto. move the player arm back ,to 'its initial playing ,posi- 9155 --t-ion. -When*the cam'shaftfl l stopsthe roller is-1ocated opposite a recess 3|! in the cam 29 so that the player arm is freed to move inwardly as the next record is being played.

The present invention is primarily concerned with the trip whereby the movements of the player arm 26 control the unlatching of the latch to effect engagement of the clutch elements l5. The shaft 21 carries a radial arm 3| upon which is pivotally mounted a pawl 32. The pawl 32 is freely pivoted so that one of its edges 33 projects upwardly and is normally located to the right of its pivot as shown in the dot and dash position in Fig. 4. During the playing of a record the arm 3| moves in the clockwise direction as viewed from above and the corner 33 of the pawl 32 is brought into engagement with the serrations 34' of a serrated member 34. The member 34 is rigidly fnounted on the lower end of a latch 35 which is pivotally mounted at 36 on the flange 3'1 of a plate 38 which is rigidly mounted on the chassis. When th pawl 32 engages the serrated member 34 and the player arm 25 is moved back in counter-clockwise direction the pawl 32 carries the latch member 35 into its dot and dash position in Fig. 4 owing to the oblique relation between the corner 33 of the dog and its pivot.

The arm 3| carries an upwardly extending pin 39 which is adapted to engage a projection 43 extending outwardly from the latch 35, so that the latch 35 may be swung into its dot and dash position of Fig. 4 by a sufficiently large inward movement of the player arm on the record. Consequently. the latch 35 is swung into its dot and dash position of Fig. 4 by an eccentric groove at the end of the recording groove or by a spiral groove which extends inwardly from the recording groove. The latch 35 is biased towards latching position by means of a light weight 4| carried by an arm 42 on the latch 35. A lu 43 on the latch 35 adapted to engage the flange 31 limits the movement of'the latch 35 in the clockwise direction.

The latch 35 is provided with a detent 44 which is adapted to engage the reduced end of a lever 45. The lever 45 is pivotally mounted at 46 on the plate 38 and its reduced end extends through an opening in the flange 31. At its other end the lever 45 carries an insulating contact 4! which normally engages a switch pole 48. The lever 45 is biased in the counterclockwise direction by a spring 49. A flexible switch pole 53 is located below the switch pole 48 and is biased downward- 1y away from the pole 48 and towards a switch pole Normally the switch pole 58 is held in the position shown in Fig. 1 by means of a pin 52 carried by the shaft l9. When the latch I1 is elevated the pin 52 moves into its position in Fig. 2 and the pole 50 moves downwardly so as to make contact with the pole 5|. In normal condition as shown in Fig. 1 the three poles 48, 50 and 5| are separated. The pole 53 is grounded. The pole 48 is connected to one terminal of an electrom'agnet 53 which is mounted above the latch I'l. When the selector magnet is energized the latch I1 is moved upwardly and the clutch elements engage. The other terminal of the electromagnet 53 is connected to a source of power, shown by way of example as a battery 54-. The other side of the source is grounded.

The poles 50 and 5| constitute a muting switch. For this purpose the pole 5| may be connected to the .ungrounded side of the pickup or to another suitable point in the sound system. The pole 48 is connected to one side of a reject switch 55, the other side of which is grounded. The

switch 55 may be mounted on the phonograph or at any suitable position in remote relation to the phonograph.

The lever 45 carries an upwardly directed arm 56 which is adapted to be engaged by a projection 51 on the cam shaft Ii after it has moved through approximately The lever 45 is swung in the clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 so that it is again latched down by the latch 35.

The operation is as follows:

At the end of the playing of a record the latch 35 is moved from its full line position into its dot and dash position in Fig. 4 in the manner previously described. This movement of the latch 35 removes the detent 44 from the end of the lever 45 so that the spring 49 is free to move the lever 45 in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1. The pole 48 is moved downwardly so that it engages the pole 5|, thus completing the circuit of the electromagnet 53. The electromagnet attracts the latch so that it disengages the arm |8. The spring 28 causes the clutch elements IE to engage and rotate the shaft '!9 partially in the clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1. The pin 52 is thus moved into its position in Fig. 2, permitting the pole 58 to move downwardly out of engagement with the pole 48 and into engagement with the pole 5|, muting the sound system. This condition is shown in Fig. 2. After the cam shaft starts to rotate the turntable moves downwardly and the cam 29 engages the roller 28, swinging the player arm back to initial playing position. During this return movement the pawl 32 slides past the serrated member 34. Thereafter the projection 51 engages the arm 55 and swings the lever 45 in the clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 so that the latch 35 again latches it in its normal position. The switch pole 48 moves upwardly into its normal position. At the end of a complete revolution of the cam shaft H the pawl 2| swings the shaft is back to its initial position, terminating the drive of the cam shaft II and moving the switch pole 5| upwardly into its normal position and opening the muting circuit. The latch I! again engages the arm I8, locking the shaft IS in its normal position. If the switch 55 is closed during the playing of a record the electromagnet 53 is energized so that the operation just described is executed.

Although the invention has been described in connection with the specific details of a preferred embodiment thereof, it must be understood that such details are not intended to be limitative of the invention except in so far as set forth in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. In an automatic phonograph comprising a record changing mechanism, a trip mechanism comprising a member movable with the player arm in its translational movement over the record, a latch adapted to be released by said member at the end of the playing of a record, a member normally latched by said latch, a switch adapted to be closed by last said member when unlatched, a seccnd'latch normally maintaining said record changing mechanism inoperative, electromagnetic means arranged to be energized by said switch when closed for releasing said second latch to render said record changing "mechanism operative, means controlled by said second'latch for opening said switch when said second latch is unlatched, and means actuated by said record changin mechanism for returning the first said normally latched member to latched condition and thereafter returning the switch to normal open condition.

2. In an automatic phonograph comprising a record changing mechanism, a trip mechanism comprising a member movable with the player arm in its translational movement over the record, a latch adapted to be released by said member at the end of the playing of a record, a member normally latched by said latch, a two pole switch, one of said poles being arranged to be engaged by last said member when unlatched to close said switch, a second latch normally maintaining said record changing mechanism inoperative, electromagnetic means arranged to be energized by said switch whenclosed for releasing said second latch to render said record changing mechanism operative, means controlled by said second latch for causing the other pole of the switch to move away from the first mentioned pole to open the switch upon the unlatching of said second latch and means actuated by said record changing mechanism for returning the first said normally latched member to latched condition to effect return of the first said pole to normal position and thereafter returning the other pole to its normal position.

3. A trip for automatic phonographs having a clutch adapted to be engaged by said trip and a, camshaft adapted to be driven a complete revolution to efiect record changing, comprising a member movable with the player arm in its translational movements, a latch adapted to be unlatched by said member at the end of the reproduction of a recording, a member normally latched by said latch, a normally open two pole switch, means biasing said normally latched member towards one of the poles of said switch whereby the switch is closed when said member is unlatched, a second latch, a clutch controlling member normally held by last said latch with the clutch disengaged, electromagnetic means adapted to be energized when the switch is closed to release second said latch and efiect engagement of the clutch when the switch is closed, and means controlled by said clutch controlling member for controlling the movement of the other switch pole to switch opening position, means on said cam shaft for returning first said normally latched member to latched condition and returning first said switch pole to normal position, and other means on said shaft for thereafter disengaging said clutch and returning second said switch pole to normal condition.

4. An automatic phonograph comprising a cam shaft for changing records, a continuously driven member, a clutch for connecting said shaft operatively to said driven member, a latch for re taining said clutch in disengaged condition, electromagneticmeans adapted when energized to release said latch, a normally open switch controlling said electromagnetic means, an arm movable with the player arm in its translational movements, a second latch adapted to be released by said arm at the end of the reproduction of a recording, a member normally engaged by last said latch and biased towards said switch to close the switch when last said latch is released by said arm, means controlled by first said latch for opening said switch immediately after the electromagnetic means is energized, and means on said cam shaft for relatching the switch closing member and for thereafter returning the switch opening means to their initial conditions.

KURT T. JOHNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record" in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Knox Sept. 28, 1943 

